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"My current client, one Mr. Ward, has a pretty nasty bad luck curse hanging over his head. From what I've been able to figure it's a ritual curse and whoever is behind it has more than one mage working it." I told Helgarth.

"Don't expect me to dispel it then, you know it would just come back once the ritual is recast." She chided.

"Of course..." That's why I haven't tried dispelling it myself. I kept the last bit to myself, I knew all too well what happened to those stupid enough to give the weathered wolfkin any kind of lip. "I have reason to believe it's related to a contract he took shortly after his company opened..."

"And what the Hell do you think I would know about that?" the old hag grumbled.

"Because the man that commissioned the job was quite unique. Since not much happens without your knowledge, I was hoping you would be able to tell us more."

"Sounds like you're grasping at straws, child."

I had to keep myself from gritting my teeth. I didn't have a problem with getting wiseass answers but I never could stand being talked down to. I took a deep breath and continued. "The man is a leopard-kin that's gone through a rune-flesh ritual. According to my client he's fond of suits and rune etched gold rings. Possibly something odd about his eyes as well."

"Hum... Rune-flesh you say?" The healer leaned against her staff and pondered for a while. "That's been getting oddly popular in the last few years. Bunch of imbeciles looking for power and messing around with rites they know nothing about. Most of the fools either failed to put enough time into the preparations or they used sub-par materials. I remember one, came in a few months ago, he used some pretty cheap shit in the prep and the ritual backfired. Turned his fur bright pink. I would have sorted him out but I was laughing too hard." Helgarth chuckled as she thought back to that. It sounded like the creaking of a rusted hinge. "Then there's the ones that manage to pull it off but are rejected by the ritual. Not much I could do for those fools, other than put them out of their misery."

I glanced at some of the knives that hung from the ceiling. While some of them looked exotic most of them just looked vicious. It was easy to envision the blood dripping from their tips. The dark stains in the floor aided with that. A couple of ideas crossed my mind but I forced them out, this wasn't the place for that kind of thinking. But when I got back to Alice's place.....

"Though there was one, about three years ago, he was brought in by a pair of panthers. Both of them sporting rune marked fur. The ritual took to him and he survived, but he was having a very unusual reaction to it, made a right mess of the place."

I took a moment to try and imagine how bad something would have to be in order to make the cottage look more gruesome than it already did.

"Don't think there was a single part of him that wasn't leaking blood. I gave him a few potions to keep him from bleeding out but there wasn't much else to do but wait. Took about thirteen hours for it to stop."

By this point I was at the edge of my seat, a vivid vision of that night danced before me. Then I realized that Helgarth had tossed a handful of mixed herbs into the fire and the resulting spell was acting out her memories. The leopard-kin that lay on the table was truly a frightful sight. His fur was not only soaked in blood but his flesh writhed and twisted beneath his fur as the ritual magics did their work. Blood even leaked out from under his eyelids and I could see them twitching as his eyes thrashed about. They snapped open at one point and even I grimaced. They looked as if they were burning, the magics of the ritual played out beneath their surface, bizarre and unsettling lights flickered around the irises and I could see faint and unnerving shapes drifting through the light. The vision seemed to speed up and we watched as the bleeding gradually stopped, the lights fading from his eyes. By the end, though the light in his eyes had vanished I could still see faint runes appearing and disappearing across his irises. Slowly he relaxed and simply lay there, his breathing was ragged and his limbs shook. Helgarth checked a few of his vitals and gave him a potion. Not long after that things went black.

"I went to bed once I was sure he was stable, by the time I woke, he and his companions were gone." The image jumped forward to the next morning and panned over the inside of the cottage a few times before the spell faded away.

"Did you get his name, or the name of his companions?' I asked. Alice still stared into the depth of the fire, as if hoping to see more.

"You know my policy on names." She snapped.

The old healer refused to ask for the names of her patients. She claims its because she didn't care, but I think it's to help keep her from getting to emotionally involved with patients. She kept up the cold front but a few times a softer side has slipped through. Especially when dealing with fellow wolfkin, berserkers in particular.

"Though I believe I overheard one of the panthers calling him Markus Hechler." That soft side also probably had to do with why she helped me on more than a few cases. Though there was something in her tone that made it obvious that she wasn't going to give me much more than that.

"Thank you, that's more than what I had to work with earlier."

Helgarth grumbled a reply and a brief insult at Alice before turning back to her table of vials and herbs. Alice gave her a look that could melt a hole through steel but the hag just ignored her. As Alice and I went to leave there was a frantic pounding on the door.

"Oh, seems today might get interesting after all." The old wolf muttered. She thumped her staff against the floor and the door swung open.

A ragged looking human fell into the room. His body was covered in wicked gashes and I could see a few organs and bone poking through in spots. He tried to gasp something out but he barely had enough breath to whimper. We caught a glimpse of someone else running down the front walk. Helgarth looked over the poor bastard and grabbed one of her infamous needles. She dipped it into a vial and hobbled over to the man.

"Get out." She growled at me and Alice. She pressed the needle into the man's side and then used a simple spell to lift him effortlessly onto one of the tables. As the door swung shut, we saw her gathering an armful of potions and salves to use on the poor wretch.

We breathed a collective sigh of relief as we made our way down the cobblestone walk. Talking to Helgarth was always a harrowing experience, but there was something odd about the healer this time. Normally she's far more abrasive and difficult. Then again we had kept our conversation quick and to the point. Furthermore it was getting close to the anniversary of the dragon-kin war and the ancient healer often got rather subdued during that time. I tried asking her about it once, next thing I knew she spent a week using me a pin cushion for her poisoned needles. I would say it was an interesting week but the poison left me too numb to really feel any of it.

Alice looked equally puzzled as we started back towards the bar. Helgarth like to tease and belittle the albino wolfess almost constantly since she knew that Alice was too scared of her to respond. Though this time she only got two insults, and rather tame ones at that. Either Helgarth was finally going senile, or she knew something troubling about this case....and wanted to help, in her own way of course.

I could have opened another portal but the protections I set up around the bar wouldn't allow anyone to open any kind of Way within a mile of the bar's center. Besides the weather was nice and given the way this case was going so far there was a pretty good chance that something interesting would happen along the walk back. We fell into step beside one another and started our trek back to the bar.

We decided to take the quick way back even though it involved cutting through the alleyways. The alleys of the Heart were almost a city in and of themselves. There were spots between buildings large enough to fit a small park and from there, as long as you knew the right way, you could get to almost anywhere without anyone noticing, asides from the homeless. As for the homeless, some of them chose to be here, for reasons they'd never tell anyone, however, most of them were once someone, or thought they were. Life is rough here in the Heart, you can be on top for years until one day someone pulls the rug out from under you.

We walked through the dank and grimy alleyways, stepping over mounds of garbage and sleeping bodies. Both Alice and I dropped a few coins in the hands of the few that still bothered to beg. We could both use as much karma points as we could get and you never know who use to be Someone back here. I've met both gods and demons back here along the Streets of the Damned. Also just as easily as one could fall, they could rise, and then it always pays to be on their good side.

There were faces I recognized peering at us from under piles of ragged cloth or weather beaten boxes. I made sure to toss them a few extra coins. Then I saw a face that made me stop.

"What is it?" asked Alice, following my gaze towards one particular hovel made from old cardboard and trash bags.

"I think who is the better word." I told her.

I knelt by the hovel and gently shook the shoulder of the young feline inside. Well, he was young but he certainly didn't look it. His fur was faded and dull while his ears were tattered and bloody. Pale scars, plus some fairly fresh gashes, dotted his limbs and face. He was once the son of the owner of one of the biggest security firms in the Heart. In fact he still wore the tattered and filthy remains of a fine suit. I sighed and shook my head.

"I warned you you'd end up here." I muttered.

He cracked open a golden eye, the once vivid color was faded and weary.

"Mr. Derleth, ain't this a surprise." his voice matched the rest of him. "So you here to tell me how much I fucked up, or you actually have a real reason for waking me up?"

I took a few bucks from my wallet and held it just out of his reach. His open eye widened, I couldn't help but notice the other one stayed shut.

"I know you liked to play with the big boys so there ain't much you haven't seen before. Tell me what you've heard of a few folk and I'll give you a treat." I waved the money before his face.

"You're an absolute bastard. I'm hardly one of your playthings, or have your whores stopped doing it for you?" He growled.

I couldn't blame the kid for being bitter, after all I'm the one that busted the gang he used to ride with. And it seems his father didn't take too kindly to finding out his son was in a gang. Alice on the other hand wasn't too fond of being called a whore. She flashed him a wicked grin and took the money from my hand. At the same time she pressed a paw firmly against his neck.

"Let's see, food for a week or you get to be _my_plaything. Take your pick." Alice purred, her steel fangs glittered cruelly in the dim light of the alley.

It seems he's heard the stories of some of Alice's exploits. He began to tremble and after taking a moment to steady himself he tried to answer but she pressed down on his throat. He got the message and his eye flickered between her paw and the money a few times before settling on the money.

"Least he ain't completely stupid." Alice muttered, handing me the cash and stepping back.

"So what do you want to know?" the young man asked, rubbing his throat.

I described the leopard and the two panthers that Helgarth had told us about.

"You really got in deep with this one. Those guys are pretty secretive, they've been around for a while but no one's really sure about who they are or where they're based. Every now and then one of their agents would appear to take care of whatever business they needed to get done but beyond that no one's really seen them. Some of their guys approached us with a few jobs before you brought that to a screeching halt. I worked one of them, I can say I'm in no rush to work with them again. Last I heard they approached the Heart library looking for some rather specific books."

"And how long ago was that?"

"About four months ago, or at least that's when the news trickled down here."

"Not bad, seems this trip wasn't a waste after all." I dropped the bills into his waiting hand.

He counted that cash and looked up at me in shock. I had given him five twenties.

"Get yourself cleaned up and get some real food, Mike. Let's hope next time we meet its somewhere a bit nicer." I told him as we left.

I couldn't help but to feel bad for the kid. He was young and pretty stupid when he fell in with a small time street gang. He had some magic talent, especially for illusions, and given the right guidance he could have made a name for himself. Always a shame when someone throws away their life for some cheap thrills. Though perhaps there's a feeling behind it that I'd never get to know.

Alice and I continued to pick out way through the alleyways until we reached the edge of the bar's neighborhood. Not much else of interest happened but we stopped a few times to ask some of the folk if they could add anything to what Mike had told us. Unfortunately most of them had little to say. It was as if they either didn't know anything of the sort or, in a few, cases they were too scared to say anything.

"Well this is getting interesting, isn't it?" Alice pondered.

"Aye, I think Mr. Ward is well passed his neck in shit by this point. You want to break the news to him or should I?"

"What news? You mean the fact that we really aren't any closer to finding out who's behind this and our only leads point to a group that might as well be a bunch of specters. Or the fact that he's unintentionally helped a mysterious group of people with questionable ethics and they're now trying to kill him since he's now useless to them?" She asked, a touch of laughter colored her voice.

"Perhaps I should be the one to tell him."

"Like you'd be any more tactful..."

"I can be."

"Really?"

We both laughed as we stepped back out onto the main streets. Those closest to the mouth of the alley bolted in terror at the sound of it. That just made us laugh even harder and we wound up leaning against the wall and clutching our sides for a couple of minutes. The rest of our walk was filled with idle banter and bad humor. At one point a few passerby began to retch after Alice told a particularly foul joke involving a fisherman and a goat.

Eventually, much to the relief of the people in the streets, we arrived back to the bar. Most of the regulars were still there and couple of others had arrived as we were out. The Sisters had come back, whatever time they spent getting sober seemed to have been wasted all ready, and as we reached the bottom of the stairs they caught us both in a hug. Well, more of a tackle really... it took us a few moments to extract ourselves from the grasp of the drunken twins and they refused to let us go without giving us both a pair of sloppy kisses. Once we were free, the Sisters bounced their way back over to the bar, practically falling out of their skimpy outfit along the way. Needless to say they drew a lot of attention, including ours.

After taking a moment to enjoy the impromptu show we headed over to the bar. Ross had seen us enter and was already preparing dinner. Barely ten minutes later a pair of plates slid across the bar and drinks soon followed. I still wasn't sure how he did it but the Elder spawn's cooking was probably the best in the Heart. It easily rivaled Old Bill's place in the main city.

"By the way, the trio over in the far booth have a message for you Mr. Derleth." Ross rumbled as I finished eating.

I glanced over at the booth he indicated and saw a group of men, two druids and a dragon-kin, staring intently at me. They were dressed much like the group of hitmen from earlier. I sighed, given the info we found today I highly doubted that these guys were hired by the group we were after. Which meant that either there was a bounty on my head again or they're with some other group I've pissed off recently. It got awfully hard to keep track of the people and organizations I've pissed off by this point, I really should start keeping a list.

I glanced at Alice and raised an eyebrow. She nodded and tapped her glass three times against the bar. The regulars got the hint and began to casually work their way around to the edges of the bar. A few of them got into position to flip tables as needed, it was common knowledge that the tables here were lined with bulletproof strike plates. I walked over to the group and leaned forward, resting my fists on the table.

"I understand you gents have a message for me."

"Yeah, fuck off." the dragon-kin hissed.

He drew a heavy magnum and shot me through the head. I felt the high caliber round blow a huge chunk out of the back of my head. The force of the impact was enough to send me stumbling back. The woad markings on one of the druids flared to life and a cluster of vines erupted from the floor, wrapping around my paws and pulling me to the ground. The other druid shimmered and became a werebear. With a roar he brought a huge paw down on my chest and began to maul me. I heard the dim sound of tables being tipped and the regulars taking cover before the echo of the gunshot faded.

I gasped and moaned as his claws tore out chunks of flesh. As my body jerked and twisted from the impacts the vines binding me grew tighter. My eyes rolled back as the werebear tore out my heart and crushed it between his jaws. It was utterly exquisite and delightful pain. I couldn't help but smile at the sensation.

"You sick fuck." muttered the gunman as he looked down at me, looking just a horrified and revolted as the other hitmen had.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." I chuckled, I could imagine how unnerving it must be for the man.

Fortunately for him he didn't have to put up with the horror that much longer. His head exploded as Alice's shotgun roared. She shouted a command and Ross rushed passed her, oozing his way straight through the bar. Given his nature he was only partly in conact with our reality and as a result corporeal objects were barely an obstacle. With shockingly little effort he lifted the werebear off me and wrapped his tendrils around the creature's head. Seconds later it returned to its human form and dropped to the ground. The man curled into a fetal position and began to weep, slowly rocking back and forth. Gentle and cultured as he was, Ross shared Alice's aggression towards anything that threatened the bar or its patrons.

I sighed, seemed as if my fun was already over. I wrenched myself free of the vines and rose to face the remaining druid. I had left my sword downstairs but that didn't really matter. He shouted a frantic spell and another cluster of vines, these ones adorned with vicious thorns, rushed towards me. I felt a bit disappointed, would have been far more fun if he used those ones first. I leapt over the tangle of vines and rolled as I hit the ground. As I came up I buried my horns in his gut. With a vicious jerk of my head I gored him. Entrails and scraps of flesh clung to my horns and the man grasped at the gaping wound that was once his torso. The woad war paint gave a weak flicker and a cluster of parasitic vines began to worm their way through the wound. I've heard of this spell but only saw it in use a few times. The parasite would keep the host alive, at least until someone tried to remove them. It worked well for most injuries but wasn't too effective against massive trauma. He was just trying to buy time for one last spell. I felt the energies gathering for it but he never got a chance to cast. I conjured a blade and took his head off.

The vines that covered his body and the bar floor instantly began to wither as his body crumpled to the floor. I shivered as the last of my injuries healed and grabbed a napkin form their table so I could clean my horns. Alice frowned and looked about at the damaged floor and blood soaked walls.

"This'll be a bitch to fix." She growled. Some of the regulars that had started to crawl out from their shelter immediately turned around as they heard her tone.

"If it is any consolation mistress, they left their tab open." Ross told her as he fetched a mop and bucket.

Suddenly she grinned, "Drinks are on the "house"." she yelled to the regulars.

I looked down at my ruined clothes and frowned.

"I don't have other extra clothes here do I?" I asked.

"I think there might be a pair of pants or two of yours lying around." Alice told me, a sly look in her eye.

"I meant any you haven't turned into ass-less chaps..."

"Oh... probably not then." Alice giggled as she headed back to the bar and began serving up drinks.

I sighed again and went downstairs to wash the blood from my fur for the second time today. Mr. Ward poked his head out of the sitting room like a frightened kitten as he heard the door. I saw him raise an eyebrow at my shredded clothes and bloodied fur but he choose not to say anything. He quickly pulled his head back, probably hoping I didn't notice him.

Once I finished with my shower I found a pile of clothes waiting for me. No doubt a "gift" from Alice. Sure enough I unfolded them to find a thong, one of the pairs of my pants that she modified, and what seemed to be a tube top. I tossed them aside, after all once you've been around as long as me, and done even just a few of the things I have, modesty is one of the first things to go. I went back up to the bar.

"Really?" I asked her, holding up the pants.

"Would you prefer the mini-skirt? I still have that lying around." She answered, giving me that mischievous grin.

A while ago I was getting cleaned up after a job and she swapped my clothes out for mini-skirt, a fishnet shirt, and matching stockings. She refused to give them back until after I did a routine on a stripper pole she had set up on the bar's stage. As wonderfully humiliating as that was, I didn't think it would be practical while on a job. If I'm naked I could at least conjure clothes for whenever I had to question anyone. Whereas if I were cross dressing it would probably be rather difficult for me to get people to take me seriously enough to give me answers. Well, give me answers without me having to beat them out of the giggling sods.

I shook my head and tossed the pants down the stairs. I took a seat at the bar and Alice passed me a drink.

"Might as well relax a bit, something tells me tomorrow's going to be busy." She told me.

I took a sip of my drink and coughed. She had poured me a whole glass of straight White Lightning. I shrugged and raised my glass to her before downing it in a single pull.